Astronaut hero had substantial reservations about forcing NASA out of human space operations.

August 28, 2012: Neil Armstrong expressed serious reservations about Obama's space privatization policy, reports Alex Marin on Policymic. In honour of Armstrong's passing away, he recounts the astronaut's earlier accomplishments as a military pilot, along with a few anecdotes from space. Armstrong opposed leasing space to private interests to the exclusion of NASA.

"CBS News reported that Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon, has passed away 'following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures.' He was 82.

His family described him as 'a reluctant American hero who always believed he was just doing his job.'

Armstrong set foot on the moon on July 20, 1969, fulfilling the goal that had been set by President John F. Kennedy just eight years earlier. He was born in Wapakoneta, Ohio, in 1930.

Passionate about flying, he left Purdue University in 1950 when the Korean War broke out - and flew 78 combat missions as a naval aviator..."